Central buffing and draft gear



Feb. 20, 1934. Rl |l GLASCQDWE 1,947,936

CENTRAL BUFFING AND DRAFT GEAR Filed June 29, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 20, 1934. R. r. GLAscoDlNE CENTRAL BUFFING AND DRAFT GEAR Filed June 29. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IqUen-or Richard Thonlsorl Giuscoofqe I /I m., /f

Patented Feb. 20,1934

. UNITED gsfr.Tiss

CENTRAL BUFFING AND DRAFT GEAR Richard vThomson Glascodine, London, England Application June 29, 1931, Serial No. 547,702,

Y andin Great Britain September 16, 1930 4 Claims.

l ing from impact between vehicles on a curve is transmitted to the vehicle underframe directly by the front followerfplate or equivalent member of the gear bearing on one of the main 10ngitudinal sills or on a casting attached thereto.

Much has been done to moderate the main longitudinalfore and aft blows on impact.

`The main object of the present invention is to provide suitable means for cushioning or reducing the intensity of the lateral stress produced by such'blows. Further and favourable objects will appear from the following description.

In central buiiing and draft gear according to the invention side cushions of india-rubberor other suitable material areprovided resiliently mounting the gear as regards Vlateral movement and operative to cushion lateralstress when buffing on curves. f

Preferably,between the followerV plates or equivalent longitudinally movable members of the gear and the centre sills of the vehicle or the rigid castings attached thereto, there is interposed at each side of the geara liner plate or liner plates having little or no longitudinal movement'and betweenY such liner plates and the centresills `or castings` appropriately shaped pads preferably of india-rubber are provided which form a lateral cushion between'the draw gear and the vehicle underframe. f e

Other vibration absorbing material than rubber may be used, but at thelpresent time vulcanized india-rubber is the best medium known for moderating impact Vstress and eliminating molecular vibration which even when not of excessive intensity, as is the case with the lateral component of the blows to which railway vehicles are normallyk subjected, ltend to fatigue and depreciate the'structure rendering it less efficient for duty under direct stress.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention applied to central buing and draft gear of the type including a yoke connected to the rear of the coupler-,shank through a single cotter ,and slot, the liner plates,.according to the invention, with the associated rubber pads, are secured to the inner faces of the centre sills so as to form bearing surfaces for the follower plates located within the yoke and operating the springs or friction blocks constituting the cushion for the main fore and aft blows.

The liner plates'conveniently extend longitudinally of the vehicle from the front follower plate abutments to the reary abutments, whereby longitudinal movement of the liner plates is prevented, the liner plates being secured to the vehicle sills by nuts and bolts passing transversely through the vertical walls of the sills, the bolt headsbeing recessed or countersunk in the liner plates.

Where the buing and draft gear includes a plurality `of springs arranged tandemwise or in column form, for instance where a pair of vindiarubber springs areV arranged tandemwise on a draw rod connected to the rear of the coupler shank, two sets of liner plates with associated india-rubber pads may be provided, the front set being juxtaposed to the front vehicle abutments and forming lateral-bearing surfaces for the front follower head, and the second pair of liner plates with associated india-rubber pads being located 75. immediately in front of the rear vehicle abutments and' constituting lateral bearing surfaces for the rear follower plate mounted on the rear end of the draw rod.

` To restrain the liner plates against longitudinal movement small abutment blocks can besecured to the centre sills at the ends of the liner plates remote from the main-vehicle abutments, such blocks being removably secured to the centre sills by nuts and bolts and being formed with guide surfaces permitting free lateral movement of the liner plates. 1 Y i Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example several embodiments and in whichzl Figs. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the application of the invention to draft gear embraced within a yoke, Fig; 1 being a vertical section, Fig. 2 a part Isectional plan, and Fig. 3 a transverse section on the line III-III of Fig. l, showing the vertical extent of the liner plates provided according to the invention and secured to the inner surfaces of the centre sills. e j' Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention to draft gear includinga plurality of springs arranged tandemwise on a draw rod pivoted to the rear ofthe coupler shank, Fig. 4 being a longitudinal section, Fig. 5 a horizontal section, and Fig. 6 a transverse vertical section on the line VII-:VII of Fig. 4. v

Referring to the drawings, but first more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, 1 designates the coupler head and 2 the coupler shank slotted at 3 to receive a draft key 4 passing transversely through the slot 3 and through slots 5 in the forwardly extending arms 6 of the yoke 7.

The rear end 8 of the coupler shank 2 is formed with a vertical pivot for a pin 9 which is borne by the follower head 10 of the front follower plate 11 providing the usual arrangement in which the coupler head 1 is permitted limited lateral movement in regard to the vehicle, for exampleV when coupling or when rounding curves.

The rear end of the yoke 7 engages the rear follower` plate 12, and the centre sills 13 and 14 of the vehicle underframe carry front abutments 15 for the front follower plate 11.and rear abutments 16 for the' rear follower plate 12.

17 represents the cushioning `element of the draft gear located between the front and rear follower plates 11 and 12,'the'gearoperating'to cushion the main longitudinal fore and aft blows in the usual manner; for instance underdraft stress the coupler-operating through the draft key .1i-pulls the yoke 7 forwardly, andthe yoke 7 engaging the rear follower-plate 12 transmits the thrust through the cushioning` element`17 of the 'gear and the front follower plate 11 to the Vehicle'by way of the fixed abutments 15.

Under bufling stress the coupler shank Zimoves rearwardly and operates the'front 'follower plate 11 to compress the cushioning element 17 against the rear follower plate 12 which bears against the fixed rear abutments 16.

According to the invention a cushion'for Yany lateral stress is provided in the form of .liner plates 20 which are shown mounted on the inner surface of the centre sills 13 and 14 extending between the'front and rearabutments 15 and116 and which form bearing surfaces for each vside of the follower plates 11 and`12.

21 represents pads of india-rubber or other appropriate cushioning material interposed between the liner plates 20'and the inner'face' ofthe centre sills 13 and l4,.and 22 are bolts having countersunk heads 23 which bolts pass transversely through the liner plates 20, the india-rubber pads 21 and the vertical wall of the` centre sill, and are secured by nuts 24.

Any desired initial compression ofthe indiarubberpads 21 can be effected by adustin'g the nuts 24 on the bolts 22, six of which are shown vfor leach liner plate 20, eliminating any possibility of the liner plates 20 rocking under stress.

The follower plates 11 and12are of rectangular form and are provided withperipheral flanges 26 and 27 respectively giving an enlarged bearing surface in contact with the liner .plates V20 and preventing any tendency of the followers to rock under stress.

AThe initial compression of the india-rubber pads 21 is conveniently such that lateral movement of the follower plates. lland 12 bearing on the liner plates 2i) is substantially eliminated even under the most intense lateral stress likely to be experienced, but it will be seen that the interposition of such rubber pads prevents the direct transmission of such stress to thecunderframe of the vehicle and constitutes a cushion moderating impact stress and eliminating molecular vibration which even when not of excessive intensity 'tends to fatigue and depreciate the structure,

The customary guide or bearer for the yoke 7 is shown in Fig. 3 at 25V and bridges the underside of the two centre sills 13 and 14.

Referring now to the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in Figs. 4to 6, the rear end of the coupler shank 50 is pivoted to a drawrod 51 on which are mounted tandemwise bufng and draft springs generally designated 52 and 53, bufng thrust being applied to the springs through the front follower head 54 engaged by the rear of the coupler shank 50, and draft stress being applied to the gear through a rear follower plate 55 engaged by a nut 56 mounted on the rear end of the draw rod 51. 57 and 58 are front and rear abutments for the follower plates 54 and'55 respectively, and are secured to the centre sills 59 by rivets, as is customary.

With this embodiment of the invention a front .pair of liner plates 60 are provided for the front follower head 54 and are resiliently mounted on india-rubber pads 61, while for the rear follower ,plate 55- a second pair of liner plates 62 are provided with interposed india-rubber pads 63.

The liner plates 60 and 62 are mounted on the inner faces of the centre sills and are secured in position as described in connection with the first embodiment, the liner plates 60 on which the 'front follower head 64 bears taking the bulk` of the lateral thrust incident on bufng when the coupled vehicles are on a curved portion of the trackland such thrust being cushioned by the interposedindia-rubber'pads 61, while the rear plates 62 with their resilient cushions 63 operate to a less extent to cushion lateral thrust and serve toremove any possibility of end to end vibration being produced in the draft gear as a result of stress, thereby ensuring silence in operation.

The front liner plates '60 are shown immediately behind the front vehicle abutments 57, rearward movement of the'liner plates'60 being prevented by stops 64 secured to the centre sills by nuts and bolts 65, while, conversely, the rear liner plates 62 are located immediately in front of the rear abutments 58 and are prevented from forwardfmovement'by stops 66 secured by nuts and bolts 67. n

With this construction the springs constituting the cushioning elements 52 and 53 of the gear are of general circular form, the rear spring 53 being located within a housing comprising a cylindrical flange 68 on the rear follower plate 55,

'the casing being formed with astep 69 having a flatlovverl surface which rides the usual guide or bearer 70, as clearly shown in Fig. 7.

The followers 54 and 55 are arranged with vertical side walls giving adequate bearing surface in contact with the liner plates 60 and 62,

the follower 54 being a webbed casting having its rear face abutting with a tubular sleeve 71, which, in conjunction with an outer sleeve 72 co-operating with the annularflange 68 on the rear follower plate serves to effect compression of both springs 52 and 53 in parallel.

Itwill be understood that the embodiments of the invention illustrated are given by way of example and that modifications may be 'made Within the scope of the appended claims.

By the present invention 'the lshocks transmitted to the vehicle underframe are considerably vreduced and the durability and silence in run- 'and draft springs between said followers, liner plates secured to the centre sills forminglateral Yguides for said followers, and cushions of indiarubber `interposed between saidliner plates and `the centre sills operative to prevent the'transmission of lateral vibration and to cushion the lateral rear end o! said shank, front and rear followers disposed on said draw rod between the centre sills, liner plates secured Yto the centre sills, one pair forming lateral guides for .the front follower and a second pair forming lateral guides for the rear follower, and cushions of india-rubber interposed between said liner plates and the centre sills operative 'to prevent the transmission of lateral vibration from said shank to the vehicle and to cushion the lateral component of the impact stress applied through said shank when buing on curves.

RICHARD THOMSON GLASCODINE. 

